“But instead of paying me the rest of my money, that bastard Rhys Gethin had his men try to kill me!”
Rhys Gethin had the sense not to trust a man who betrayed his own.
“But how could you do that to William?” she asked. “You were his friend. His second in command. He trusted you.”
He turned to gaze out the window at the dark sky. “I loved him like a brother,” he said, nodding. “ ’Twas a time we had everything in common. We were the best of soldiers, but landless, with no bonds of family.”
She heard the plaintive longing in his voice.
“There was freedom in the life we had. And always plenty of women. William drew them like flies.” Edmund blew out a deep breath and shook his head. “But William was never content with it. Nay, he always wanted what he did not have.”
He lifted his flask and, finding it empty, tossed it aside. He picked up her cup and took a deep drink. Though he showed little outward sign, she thought he must be drunk.
“Then the king hands him a castle, lands, and a title—and all for nothing more than refusing to follow his father into treason.” Tiny drops of spittle hit the table as Edmund spoke. “Truly, his bounty was too much!”
“You understand him well enough to know what he truly desired was not wealth or lands,” she said in a soft voice. “What he wanted was a family of his own, a home.”
“I would not have begrudged William his good fortune,” he said, fixing her with a look that burned right through her. “But then, in addition to all else, he got you. And for you, he had to pay no price at all.”
Edmund’s words sent a wave of panic through her that threatened to swamp her.
“No matter what you were, what you looked like,” Edmund said, “he would have married you because you needed saving. You see, William lacks his parents’ pragmatism when it comes to honor. I could have forgiven him the rest of his good fortune if he had to take an ugly heiress into the bargain.
“Instead, the whore’s son got a woman who puts all the others to shame,” he said, his voice thick with bitterness. “It was more than one man deserved.”
Her years with Rayburn gave her the sharp instincts of the hunted. She sensed Edmund was on the verge of attacking her.
“What about Tyler?” she asked, hoping to divert him again.
“Tyler knew some of the rebels. He served as my go-between with Rhys Gethin.”
“What happened to him?” she asked, though she could guess.
“When William brought you back, I knew he would figure out someone here betrayed you. I gave him Tyler.” He shrugged. “I suspect they’ll find his body in the spring.”
With an edge to her voice, she asked, “How is it you are not concerned William will come after you?”
“Well might you ask!” He laughed as he said it, but she heard unease in his laughter. “Believe me, I plan to be far, far away before William returns.”
Praise God, he was going to take his rabble and leave soon. She narrowed her eyes at him. “You might want to get started.”
“I have three days, maybe more, before the news reaches him and he returns. All the same, we’ll leave in the morning.”
She just had to survive until morning.
“You do know I’m taking you with me?” he said.
She did not look down soon enough to hide the terror in her eyes, and he smiled with satisfaction.
“You bewitch men at every turn. One of them is sure to pay,” he said. “I’ll send ransom demands to them all and sell you to the highest bidder.
“Mind you, I’d make Gethin pay twice as much as the others, after what he did to me.” He took another drink of wine and narrowed his eyes to slits. “But even if William could find the money after he loses Ross Castle, I’d never let him buy you back.”
Catherine felt such a surge of rage it left her shaking. But then the child rolled in her belly, and her thoughts turned cold and clear. She would save herself and her baby.
“It would be a shame to give you to a man like Rhys Gethin. I suspect he has no refinement in bed,” he said, leaving no doubt as to the direction of his thoughts. “He probably makes love the same as he fights—charges straight for the prize with all speed.”
He leaned across the table and took her chin in his hand. She sat still, every muscle taut.
